Supermarket cart cup and accessory holder

ABSTRACT

A cupholder that is mountable on the interior of a supermarket cart and which includes flanges that can be used for directly mounting the cupholder to the cart wall, or for slidably fitting into a track which in turn is mounted on the cart wall. The cupholder can be moved along the track to permit moving it out of the way of packages that are stacked in the cart. The cupholder can be adapted to fit onto end walls, sidewalls, or even onto the child seat in the handle area of a cart and can be made to move with folding cart walls or placed in regions left clear when empty carts are nested together so that it is out of the way when the carts are stacked. The cup holder can be supported using a hanger that fits over the upper edge of the supermarket cart wall and is then retained in place.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation-in-part of our application Ser. No.08/717,130, filed Sep. 20, 1996 and now abandoned, entitled SUPERMARKETCART CUPHOLDER.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a cupholder that is mountable in aconventional shopping cart and positioned for holding not only a cup butalso accessories such as coupons, pencils, pads or the like. Thecupholder is mounted onto a wall of the cart, either permanently or as aslip-on holder using a hanger type support. The holder can be slid topositions least likely to interfere with items that are placed into thecart.

Conventionally, shopping carts are made in several styles and have awheeled frame, with either a wire or a plastic basket mounted on theframe. The basket is used for holding products that are to be purchasedwhile in a supermarket or store. The baskets are generally made so thatthe carts will nest together. Some baskets fold upwardly, while otherbaskets have folding rear walls which move upwardly when the carts arenested. Carts also have folding child seats adjacent the handle.

Various wire racks have been used with shopping carts as auxiliarysupports, and there have been wire cupholders that will mount ontohandle portions of a shopping cart.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a cup or drink container holder (called acupholder) that is mountable on a shopping cart for convenience of auser. It preferably includes not only a receptacle for receiving a drinkcup or container, but also receptacles for coupons, wallets, pencils andpens, etc. The cupholder is easily mounted onto the sidewall or end wallof a shopping cart. The cupholder can be fixed in place or can beremovably mounted with a hanger type bracket. The hanger bracket alsocan be fixed in place, if desired.

As shown in one form of the invention, the cupholder may be mounted forslidable movement on a longitudinally extending track between aplurality of positions along the track. The track in turn is attached tothe shopping cart itself.

The cupholder is a molded unit, preferably, which has flanges or ahanger used for mounting directly to the cart or for sliding in a track.The selection of how to mount it can be made by the user.

The cupholder can mount in a suitable location, such as a side wall oran end wall of the cart. When the carts are formed so that the entirebasket folds up, the cupholder is preferably mounted on the sidewall ofthe cart. In most carts there are spaces that are not occupied when thecarts are nested, and that area is used for mounting the cupholder.

The cupholders shown are easily formed, and finds wide utility inshopping cart applications to free the hands of a user, and totemporarily store things such as store coupons and pens and pencils, aswell as shopping lists.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cupholder shown mounted in a shoppingcart, which is fragmentarily illustrated for illustrative purposes;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the cupholder of FIG. 1 shown mounted ontoa track, which is also shown fragmentarily;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the cupholder of FIG. 2 shown inplace in the track;

FIG. 4 is a side view of a cupholder of the present invention applieddirectly against the sidewall of a shopping cart;

FIG. 5 is a modified form of the cupholder used with a removable hangertype bracket for support; and

FIG. 6 is a view showing optional fasteners to secure the cupholder inplace.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 1, a cupholder made according to the present inventionis indicated generally at 10, and is mounted onto a shopping cart 12,which has a wall 13 shown as a wire cart wall. The shopping cart 12 is aconventional cart and is a manually movable cart having wheels on asupport frame (not shown) that supports the wall 13.

The cupholder 10 is molded from a suitable plastic, and has a base wall15, sidewalls or flanges 16 that join the base wall, and a front wall18. A top wall 20 is provided with a drink cup holder receptacle moldeddownwardly therefrom and indicated at 22. Additionally, the receptacle22, which is of size to receive a cup or can of desired configuration,is flanked by a pair of pockets 24 and 26, respectively, that have slotopenings of sufficient length to receive and hold store coupons or"cents back" coupons that are commonly used in grocery shopping.

A pair of cylindrical pockets 28 also can be provided for holding pensor pencils. The base wall 15 forms an upper flange 32 and a lower flange34. The flanges 32 and 34 each have a plurality of openings 36 therein.The openings in the upper flange are shown.

In the first form of the invention, these flanges are used as supportsthat fit into receptacles of a guide track 40. The track 40, as canperhaps best be seen in FIG. 3 has a base wall 42, and inverted U-shapedguide receptacles 44 and 46 at the top and bottom, respectively. Thesereceptacles receive the flanges 32 and 34, respectively, for slidablymounting the cupholder 10 and permitting movement of the cupholder alongthe length of the track.

While the full length of the track 40 is not illustrated, the top viewof FIG. 2 shows that it extends along the supermarket cart wall, whichis indicated at 48, and is the type of wall that would be a plastic ormolded wall cart for illustrative purposes.

The track 40 can be mounted onto the wall 48, or the wall 13 through theuse of suitable cap screws 50 which pass through the base 42, andwherein the cap screw heads can fit into a recess 52 that is formed inthe track 40. The cap screws 50 can pass through apertures 54 in thesupermarket cart wall 48, or between the wires 13 the wall 13, andsecure clamp straps 56 to the outside of the wall 48. The clamp straps56 can be held securely with lock nuts or the like which do not snag orcatch on objects easily.

The flanges 32 and 34 and apertures 36 are also used for attaching thecupholder directly to the sidewall of a shopping cart as illustrated inFIG. 4. The same clamp straps 56 can be used as with the track 40. Aseparate clamp strap 56 will be used for the top and the bottom flanges.The wall 60 of a shopping cart would thus support the flanges 32 and 34.Suitable countersunk cap screws or round headed carriage bolts 62 wouldbe passed through the apertures 36 on both the top and bottom flanges,and then bolted in place to clamp the sidewall 60 in position using theclamp straps 56 for backing. The wall 60 could be either a molded wallor a wire wall of a shopping cart. The direct attachment utilizes thesame flanges as those used for the tracks and gives an additionalbenefit to the cupholder.

The receptacles 22, 24, 26 and 28 are generally molded in place withwalls that are surrounded by the sidewalls 16 and front wall 18. Asshown fragmentarily in FIG. 4, the depending wall of the cupreceptacle22 is shown at 66. A typical pencil holder or pen holder wall isillustrated at 68. The coupon holder pockets are formed with walls 70.The surrounding skirt or walls 16 and 18 shield the internal moldedwalls.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, a second form of the supermarket cartcupholder is shown at 80. The supermarket cart cupholder in this form ofthe invention includes a molded cupholder member 82 that has side walls83, and a front wall 84. The cupholder has a base or rear wall 86, and atop wall 88.

A receptacle 90 is formed inwardly from the top wall, for receiving acup or can as in the first forms of the invention.

Also, cylindrical pockets 92 can be provided as in the first form of theinvention, and elongated pockets 94 are positioned along the sides forreceiving coupons, wallets, or other items that will fit into this typeof pocket.

In this form of the invention, the supermarket cart cupholder isprovided with a support hanger indicated generally at 95, whichcomprises a top or cross wall 98 and a depending wall 100 that joined totop wall 98 and is spaced from the base wall 86 of the cupholder. Thisforms a U-shaped receptacle 102 so that it is a type of a hanger thatwill fit over the side wall 94 of a supermarket cart that is illustratedschematically.

The top rail 96 of the supermarket cart wall will support the undersurface 98A of the top or cross wall 98, and if the hanger bracket wall100 is not secured, the cupholder can be slid along the top rail 96 toany desired position.

The support for the cupholder is adequate because of the depth of theU-shaped receptacle 102, and if desired, as shown in FIG. 5, suitablefasteners 106 can be passed through the openings in the vertical slatsof the supermarket cart wall 94 and screwed partially into the base wall86 to hold the cupholder very securely in place. Alternatively, threadednuts could be molded into the base wall 86, and the fasteners 106extended through the hanger bracket wall 100.

A modification of a fastener is to use a bump or latch dog 108 that isnear the open end of the U-shaped receptacle 102 (FIG. 6). The bump orlatch dog is of size to leave a minimum clearance with wall 100 that isless than the diameter of the top rod or rail 96. The latch dog 108would prevent the cupholder from being slid up easily and removed fromthe supermarket cart until the wall 100 had been moved or bent outwardlyfrom the base wall 86.

The supermarket cart cupholder thus is removable, and is easilyinstalled by merely placing the receptacle 102 above the top rail 96 ofa suitable wall of the supermarket cart, and sliding it down intoposition.

The other features of the invention are the same as in the first form ofthe invention, and the present form provides for adjustment along therail 96 quite easily, and also provides for removal and replacement.

The long receptacles for the coupons can be placed to extend indirection of the flanges 32 and 34, between the base wall and thereceptacle 22. Several accessory pockets can be formed in desiredlocations.

The cupholder may have an opening in the bottom wall, formed with crosssupports, if desired. The depth of the drink cup receptacle is selectedto support various size cups.

Although the present invention has been described with reference topreferred embodiments, workers skilled in the art will recognize thatchanges may be made in form and detail without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A cupholder adapted for mounting onto a shoppingcart, the cupholder comprising a housing having a base end, and a topwall supported on the base end, the top wall having a receptacle for adrink cup formed in the housing and opening to the top wall, the topwall further having a pair of depending pockets on opposite sides of thereceptacle for the drink cup, and at least one of the pockets being ofsize to hold coupons, which are used by shoppers;at least one flange onthe base end and extending in a plane generally perpendicular to theplane of the top wall and parallel to a central axis of the receptacle,and a supporting member for supporting the at least one flange relativeto a wall of a basket of a shopping cart.
 2. The cupholder of claim 1,wherein said supporting member comprises a track for slidably receivingsaid at least one flange for supporting the cupholder.
 3. The cupholderof claim 2, wherein said track member includes first and second guideportions for stabilizing the cupholder.
 4. The cupholder of claim 1,wherein said supporting member comprises a threaded fastener thatengages the flange.
 5. The cupholder of claim 4, wherein said fastenerengages a support strap forming a clamp in association with the flange.6. The cupholder of claim 1, wherein said top wall has at least onedepending pocket forming a separate receptacle adjacent to and separatedfrom the receptacle for the drink cup.
 7. The cupholder of claim 1,wherein said top wall has at least one holder aperture formed and opento the top wall that supports a pen.
 8. The cupholder of claim 1,wherein there are flanges at a top edge and at a bottom edge of the baseend, and a surrounding skirt formed of sidewalls and a wall oppositefrom the base end, the sidewalls being attached to the base end andsupported by the flanges.
 9. The cupholder of claim 1, wherein the baseend has flanges at a top edge and at a bottom edge of the base end, andwherein said supporting member comprises a track having guidereceptacles at top and bottom edges thereof, said track supporting theflanges at both the top edge and bottom edge of the base end of thecupholder for slidable movement along the length of the track.
 10. Thecupholder of claim 1, wherein said supporting member comprises a supportwall extending outwardly from at least one flange adjacent an upper sideof the top wall.
 11. The cupholder of claim 10, wherein said supportwall has a dependent wall attached thereto and spaced from the back endto define a receptacle for receiving a wire wall of a supermarket cartbasket.
 12. A combination of a wheeled shopping cart having a basketwith a plurality of side walls defining a space, and a cupholder formounting onto a shopping cart side wall, comprising a cupholder housinghaving a base wall lying generally along a plane, a top wall generallyperpendicular to the plane and supported on the base wall, a receptacleformed on the cupholder and opening through the top wall, saidreceptacle being of size to support a drink cup, and a hanger bracketsecured to the top wall, including a depending wall that is generallyparallel to and spaced from the base wall, said depending wall beingspaced from the base wall sufficiently only to receive the side wall ofthe shopping cart between the base wall and the depending wall, and aperipheral skirt wall joined to the base wall and edges of the top wall,said skirt wall being spaced from the receptacle and extending from thetop wall a distance sufficient to shield the receptacle from exteriorview.
 13. The cupholder of claim 12, wherein said depending wall issupported on a support wall that is parallel to the top wall and extendsfrom the top wall, said depending wall being a continuous wall thatextends substantially along a lateral dimension of the support wall. 14.A combination of a supermarket cart having a basket with a peripheralwall defining a space, the peripheral wall having an upper edge, and acupholder mounted onto the upper edge of the supermarket cart wallcomprising a housing having a base wall on the interior of thesupermarket cart, and a hanger bracket for supporting the base wall onthe supermarket cart wall, said hanger bracket having a support wallextending generally perpendicular to the base wall and lying across theupper edge of the supermarket cart wall, the housing having a dependingwall spaced from the base wall and positioned on the exterior of thesupermarket cart wall, and a cup receptacle supported by said base wallin position on the interior of the shopping cart, including a top wallthat is supported from the base wall, and a cup support wall dependingfrom the top wall and being accessible through an opening in the topwall, said receptacle being of size to support a drink cup.
 15. Thecupholder of claim 14, and a lock device for locking the hanger bracketonto the peripheral wall.
 16. The cupholder of claim 14, and a fastenerextending through the depending wall and engaging the base wall, saidfastener spanning the space between the depending wall and the basewall.